The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe

Editions Authorized by Poe:

During his lifetime, Poe published three collections of his tales, and one novel. A posthumous collection, edited by Rufus Wilmot Griswold, incorporates some additional manuscript changes, although Griswold did not have access to a few other important corrections and is therefore less than definitive. These collections are listed chronologically. Within each of these, there is a list of tales which links to the appropriate text of text.

Later Collected Editions:

After Griswold's death in 1857, there were several alternate attempts to collect Poe's works. The most important of these were collections edited by John H. Ingram, also in four volumes (initially published in 1874-1875), the ten-volume set edited by Edmund C. Stedman and George E. Woodberry (initially published in 1894-1895), and the seventeen-volume set edited by James A. Harrison (published in 1902). (Although at least one of these editions bears the title of The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, none of them are, in fact, actually complete. In some instances, they also contain works that have since been identified as not being by Poe.)

Modern Scholarly Editions:

The most widely recognized scholarly edition of Poe's tales and sketches are the volumes edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott, (published in 1978, nearly a decade after Mabbott's death), completed by his widow, Maureen Cobb Mabbott (and several assistants), with one volume of the longer tales remaining in the edition as continued by Burton R. Pollin. All of these volumes are thoroughly annotated, with introductory material, notes and variants.

The following list contains at least one entry for all sixty-nine of what may properly be designated as Poe's tales (both short fiction and novels). Because Poe often revised his work, sometimes quite heavily, the same story might have been printed under more than one title. In the case of multiple titles, all of the titles have been listed, with an indication of the later name. (See, for example, “Epimanes.”) Each entry on this list links to a page dedicated to the individual tale, with a listing of various printings and texts. In addition to these items that are assigned to Poe's pen with confidence, two doubtful items have been included because there were at one point suggested by a credible authority as possibly having been by Poe. (In the list below, they are noted as “doubtful.”) Some printed collections, such as the high-regarded one edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott, have chosen to bring together a broader definition of what might be termed Poe's imaginative prose, including such miscellaneous items as “Autography,” “Instinct vs. Reason” and “The Philosophy of Furniture.” For this website, these items have been placed in what seem to be more suitable categories. Information on a number of French translations has been provided by Dominque Demelene, of Belgium.

These items are arranged alphabetically by the name of the tale. Within each name, the items are listed chronologically. A few tales were published by Poe under more than one name, or under a name assigned by later editors. These tales are listed under the name most commonly used.